In Richard Hammond’s garage: Which car did he fall in love with on Top Gear and which motorbike did he buy his wife?

Richard Hammond is every inch a petrol freak, that’s a known fact. He has a very distinctive, refined and sometimes a little strange taste in cars and motorbikes. But the fact is, he has something to say about each of these vehicles.

The first exhibit in Hammond’s collection is one of the one-footed “intruders.” It’s a Suzuki GSX-R 1100 and it’s Hammond’s dream come true since “I was a kid learning to ride my 50cc moped.”

At that time, the battle between manufacturers was developing for the highest possible engine volume, and the Japanese were riding high. Well, admit it yourself, a 1.1-liter engine with an output of 158 hp would be enough for a smaller car – but what could such power do in the early 90s in a bike that weighs 250 kilos?

Here we probably have an adept for an absolute favorite – almost everyone likes the Ford Mustang from the late 1960s. It is specifically a version of the 390 GT in the classic (and original!) color Highland Green.

Those in the know must have had that imaginary light bulb go off in their heads: “Is that the car from the movie Bullitt?” Well, yes and no. This car, of course, did not appear in the film, but the film crew did indeed use a 1968 390 GT, only slightly modified. So yes, that is THE car. What’s more, Hammond adds, it drives surprisingly well for an “old American car.”

As a true British patriot, Hammond also owns one classic Jaguar from the late 1950s and early 1960s, an era that today is home to arguably the most valuable and valuable cars ever to leave Coventry. In addition to this XK150, there is also a “disassembled” XK120, which he would like to have a restomod one day.

Hammond once bought the XK150 as a project and had the car restored at his Smallest Cog workshop by Neil and Anthony, masters of their craft. The car is in stunning condition – it even has the original Dove Gray paint and red leather upholstery. It’s a masterpiece for Hammond, especially thanks to its superb straight-six

This beautiful Mini isn’t actually Hammond’s – it belongs to a friend of his who had it restored by Hammond in the workshop and has nowhere to store it. Whereupon Hammond offered to let Mini stay in his barn over the winter. Attention, right?

In fact, Hammond might be happy if it was his car because, as he says, “You can’t not love a classic Mini, you just can’t. It’s like a law.”

We see a 1972 Buick Riviera with an eight-cylinder engine fitted with a giant supercharger (which looms flamboyantly above the hood) alongside the loitering chassis of a 1-series Land Rover and a Jaguar XK120. According to Hammond, this car is also a bit of a project – he is thinking about lowering the chassis, repainting it black, but as he said: “We will deal with that at some point in the future.”

Hammond is actually quite a one-track fan, so there are a bit more of the “intruders”. For example, the Ducati 916 produced, as the “children of the nineties” may still remember, in the years 1994-1998, is already considered a classic today. An admirable piece is also the BMW R90 S, which was a hellishly fast machine in its time.

There’s also a Honda CB-750, and as Hammond points out, it’s one of his colleague James May’s favorite bikes. The last motorcycle in the collection is a Harley-Davidson with only 200 miles on it, which Hammond bought for his wife Mindy for her 40th birthday. Yeah, she doesn’t ride much…

This car holds a special place in Hammond’s life – can you guess why? We won’t bore you for long – this is the very last car that Hammond drove in the old Top Gear, before “everything changed”, as the presenter nostalgically recalls.

Hammond still has big plans for this hottie. He wants to take the Smallest Cog workshop to a higher level, so Smallest Cog will also participate in veteran races. Yes, you guessed right – this car will be driven.

Some seats in this secret barn are empty. For example, next to the Jaguar XK150, there used to be a 1969 Porsche 911 T, which Hammond had to sell in order to buy new equipment for the workshop – along with a few other gems. Well, collecting sometimes has its sad moments.

Then there’s also the Peugeot 504 Pickup, but we’ve only learned so much about it that he still has big plans for it, and he doesn’t want to say more about it at the moment. But the bottom line – what do you think of the “Hamster” collection? Which of the cars is your favorite? Let us know via the poll below the article. And you can watch the entire tour in English in the video below.